hurt while doing a side job

[crow]

NY

My brother was hurt last week after the scaffold he was standing on collapsed. He fractured vertebrae in his lumbar and also fractured his ankle.
He has been getting paid in cash by the homeowner and has been there for a couple months. The problem is he has no insurance. My question is, in this situation is the homeowner responsible and will his homeowners insurance cover the medical bills?
I should also mention that he was not the only builder there and was not in charge.
MY brother can not walk and is at serious risk of paralyzation without surgery but the hospital will not perform the operation until we figure out how to pay.
Any advice would be appreciated. Tx

 

[JETX]

My brother was hurt last week after the scaffold he was standing on collapsed.

What caused the scaffold to collapse??
Who assembled the scaffold??

is the homeowner responsible and will his homeowners insurance cover the medical bills?

What did the homeowner do, or fail to do, that was the cause his injuries??

MY brother can not walk and is at serious risk of paralyzation without surgery but the hospital will not perform the operation until we figure out how to pay.

Shouldn't be a problem. All he has to do is to provide the hospital with HIS insurance card.

 

[crow]

What caused the scaffold to collapse??
Who assembled the scaffold??

design, it was a poorly constructed wood scaffold
the foreman and a helper

What did the homeowner do, or fail to do, that was the cause his injuries??

he is essentially the GC, he hired 1 guy to be forman then hired others to help and work under the foreman's direction
IMO by choosing to run his own job,as opposed to hiring an insured crew and GC to run his job site, in the name of saving money he left himself open to this type of situation

Shouldn't be a problem. All he has to do is to provide the hospital with HIS insurance card.

Obv he does not have his own insurance

 

[justalayman]

so, he was working illegally and he wants help?

HHHmm, seems like if he wasn't breaking the law he would not be in this situation.

 

[You Are Guilty]

Was this a 1- or 2-family house? Does the GC have workers' comp coverage?

Either way, it wouldn't hurt to have bro speak to a labor law attorney - NY has some tough scaffold rules (see Labor Law 240 for the big one).

 

[crow]

so, he was working illegally and he wants help?

HHHmm, seems like if he wasn't breaking the law he would not be in this situation.

No one said he doesn't claim his income, he simply was not carrying his own insurance.
As far as I know it is not illegal to accept cash as pay.

 

[Antigone*]

No one said he doesn't claim his income, he simply was not carrying his own insurance.
As far as I know it is not illegal to accept cash as pay.

You are right, it is not illegal to accept cash as pay, but if he is going to be doing this kind of work, then he should carry insurance.

Why should someone else be held responsible for your brother's injury if they were not at fault?

 

[crow]

You are right, it is not illegal to accept cash as pay, but if he is going to be doing this kind of work, then he should carry insurance.

Why should someone else be held responsible for your brother's injury if they were not at fault?

It is of your opinion that the homeowner/GC isn't responsible, in the end everyone on that jobsite answered to him.

HE hired him without setting up any means of being a legal employer himself.
As you would have it , he only gets to be the boss until something goes wrong.
When I get payed from a guy and have to answer about what time I come and go, and how I go about doing my job, when I can have a day off or when i am getting a raise it sure seams like he is my boss. Since this is the case at my brother's job and he was told to do whatever the forman asked I WOULD SAY YES HE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SOMETHING!

BTW I am sure some of you would feel different if it was you or your loved one stuck in this situation.
Not everyone in these hard times was able to keep their jobs, have any of you hard liners looked for work recently? Have you EVER had to choose between no work or work without insurance? The high horse is so easy to ride, try getting down and walking.

 

[justalayman]

No one said he doesn't claim his income, he simply was not carrying his own insurance.
As far as I know it is not illegal to accept cash as pay.

the inference of one being "paid cash" is it is "under the table" (no taxes, no reporting to the gov) and therefore, illegal.

So, I can presume the guy is an independent contractor and has the proper licensing to do carpentry work (or whatever trade he was performing) in New York, right?

HE hired him without setting up any means of being a legal employer himself.

make up your mind. You said your brother was an independent contractor so this guy is not an employer in that sense.

When I get payed from a guy and have to answer about what time I come and go, and how I go about doing my job, when I can have a day off or when i am getting a raise it sure seams like he is my boss. Since this is the case at my brother's job and he was told to do whatever the forman asked I WOULD SAY YES HE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SOMETHING!

so, now you want to claim he is an actual employee of this guy so yes, there are laws being broken by being paid cash, that is if you are using the definition of being paid cash that almost everybody in the country uses.

Of course, you could mean "cash" as in the guy is withholding all the appropriate taxes and such and simply paying the remainder due in cash as opposed to a check but I really doubt that is what you mean.

and no, I have had the opportunity to work "cash" jobs and refused them due to the fact cash jobs, in the terms I am speaking of and what I believe you are inferring, are illegal yet I somehow managed to get by.

as "you are guilty" suggested:

Either way, it wouldn't hurt to have bro speak to a labor law attorney

there are too many inherent problems with the situation to be able to make any solid determination.

 

[yaritza5555]

Advice

I think if he is not an employee then it will be very difficult that the home owner help him.According to me you can ask the person whp has any legal knowledge.

 

[Magdela]

This sounds like a good Personal Injury case which a pretty decent attorney will take on a contingency basis where the fee is usually 33 1/3%. Attorneys who do personal injury also have relationships with doctors and therapists who can treat the patient on a lien or third party billing. The attorney will contact the homeowner's insurance company and go from there. The person injured should hire an attorney.

 

[Magdela]

You are right, it is not illegal to accept cash as pay, but if he is going to be doing this kind of work, then he should carry insurance.

Why should someone else be held responsible for your brother's injury if they were not at fault?

Well what would you say would the factor determining liability? To me the ladder is the crucial issue. Was the ladder supplied by the employer, if so did it malfunction in some way? I say the employer is liable because if not but for that the employee was using the ladder and working on the job, he would not have fallen on the site at that time. This also can be viewed as a workerman's comp claim as well.

 

[justalayman]

Well what would you say would the factor determining liability? To me the ladder is the crucial issue. Was the ladder supplied by the employer, if so did it malfunction in some way? I say the employer is liable because if not but for that the employee was using the ladder and working on the job, he would not have fallen on the site at that time. This also can be viewed as a workerman's comp claim as well.

well, I 'm not sure anybody should consider your advice seeing that there is not even a ladder involved. Not very observant there maggie.

 

[Magdela]

well, I 'm not sure anybody should consider your advice seeing that there is not even a ladder involved. Not very observant there maggie.

Scaffold...ladder...you don't even pay me...whether it's a tomato or potato the point it that it's something that he stood on and fell off of...but if splitting hairs floats your boat then cool by me.

 

[justalayman]

Scaffold...ladder...you don't even pay me...whether it's a tomato or potato the point it that it's something that he stood on and fell off of...but if splitting hairs floats your boat then cool by me.

there is a huge difference between a ladder that is purchased made in a factory and scaffolding, whether it is a pre-manufactured unit that was assembled by those involved or a scaffold was assembled using miscellaneous materials.

appointment of liability is greatly affected by which of those 3 situations it is.


and if you ordered potato soup and got tomato soup and did not recognize the difference, it would only further support my point of you being less than observant which makes anything you propose suspect.